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The present invention generally relates to wire separators, and more particularly to a modular wire separator that securely bundles and organizes a variety of wires and yet allows for quick wire positioning.
The use of wire separators for organizing wiring is well known in many applications. For instance, vehicle spark plug wire separators are utilized to securely maintain ignition wires in a fixed bundle. Organized as such, the wires are less likely to become accidentally displaced and are also less likely to be damaged from contact with hot engine parts. Similarly, wire separators are used to route other types of wires, such as computer cables, and the wire separators reduce tangling of the cables, reduce the chances of a cable becoming a tripping hazard, and further allow a user to easily identify a particular cable.
Several prior art wire separators have been developed. For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,842 issued to Brooks shows a spark plug wiring harness assembly with multiple brackets that are fixedly attached to vehicle engine components. Ignition wires are positioned through apertures in the brackets in order to securely maintain the wires a proper distance from the high temperature engine parts. However, the harness assembly in the Brooks patent has a fixed number of apertures, which limits the number of wires that the harness may hold. Also, as the wires pass through the individual brackets, that portion of the wire is completely enclosed within the bracket, which inhibits the user""s ability to quickly change out an individual wire. Furthermore, the brackets are fixed to the vehicle engine, thus limiting the types of applications in which the wiring harness can be used.
Additional wire separators are disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 5,703,330, issued to Kujawski and U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,743, issued to McDowell. Both of these prior art wire separators include a plurality of apertures into which wires may be positioned, and a slot is included in each aperture to make the apertures partially open. Although the slots allow wires to be quickly replaced, the slots also keep the wires partially exposed, so that they may inadvertently fall out of the open slot and be damaged by contact with a hot engine part.
Moreover, prior art wire separators are disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,876 issued to Platt and U.S. Pat. No. D390,447 issued to Colen, Jr. These patents show brackets that include multiple apertures. Both brackets have a seam that runs through the centerline of the apertures, and the bracket can be opened along this seam in order to insert and remove wires from the wire separator. However, the wire separators in these patents, like the wire separator in the Brooks patent, include a fixed number of apertures, which likewise limits the number of wires that the brackets may hold. Furthermore, opening the brackets exposes all wires at once, and this possibly allows a wire to inadvertently escape and fall upon a hot engine part.
From the foregoing, it is apparent that there is a need for a free-floating modular wire separator that securely retains and organizes wires and allows a user to quickly identify and replace an individual wire without compromising the hold on other wires.
The aforementioned needs are addressed by the disclosed wire separator of the present invention. In one aspect, the wire separator comprises an inner member that includes a plurality of generally U-shaped apertures defining associated gaps, wherein individual wires may be positioned through the gaps and into the apertures. The wire separator additionally includes an outer member capable of being releasably attached to the inner member, wherein the outer member can be moved between a first rotational position and a second rotational position. In the first position, the outer member overlaps each gap to thereby prohibit wires from being inserted into or removed from the apertures. In the second position, at least one gap is exposed, allowing a wire to be inserted into or removed from the aperture. As such, one wire can be selectively moved into or out of the wire separator without allowing other wires to inadvertently dislodge from the wire separator. Also, when the outer member is disposed in the first rotational position, all the wires are enclosed within the wire separator. Thus, the wire separator advantageously prohibits a wire from inadvertently falling from the wire separator and being damaged or creating a safety hazard.
In another aspect, a wire separator system is disclosed that comprises a plurality of similarly shaped inner members, each having a differing number of apertures and associated gaps, wherein wires may be positioned into the apertures via the gaps. Also, the wire separator system includes an outer member capable of releasably attaching to each individual inner member separately in a manner such that the outer member overlaps the gaps of the attached inner member when the outer member is in a first position and that exposes at least one gap of the attached inner member when the outer member is in a second position. As such, the wire separator has modular capability and can accommodate more or fewer wires, depending on the desired wiring configuration. Advantageously, the wire separator can be used in a wider variety of applications without having to buy additional outer members.